The Upfronts last week in New York brought oodles of excitement to the new fall season for connoisseurs of African-american entertainment. My personal requirement when I watch television or a movie is that it has to have at least two black people in leading roles, and the writing and the acting have to be amazing . Therefore as you can guess I don’t watch much television. My time is valuable and I can’t stand reality shows. I know these characters are getting paid. But how are you going to be a bad actor/actress in a show about your own life? I have not been on the Mad Man, Game of Thrones bandwagon either. Mad Men completely ignores that black people exist during one of the most turbulent times in American history. Game of Thrones has dinosaurs and goblins but no sisters or brothers although Hannibal crossed the French alps (Gaul) with his crew . Both shows are bloodthirsty, over sexed fantasy nonsense. With that said the 5 Best New Black TV Shows 2014 ARE….

Empire -Fox TBA

Empire is a Lee Daniels (The Butler, Precious) produced drama starring Terrence Howard as Lucious Lyon a dying mogul and Taraji B. Henson as Cookie Lyon his ex-con former wife who are battling for control of their hip-hop dynasty. Gabourey Sidibe(Precious) joins the cast at Lucious’ hardworking assistant Becky. Taraji and Terrence acting together is reason enough to be excited about this new show.

The Mathis Project-BET Fridays 10p/9c

Judge Greg Mathis hosts this in-depth investigative program that reopens cold cases using forensics, law enforcement to uncover new information that will solve murders and bring justice to the victims. This show actually premiered last year but they reworked the format making it leaner and more sophisticated.

How to Get Away with Murder -ABC Thursdays 10p/9c

This legal suspense thriller produced by Shonda Rhimes stars Viola Davis as law school professor Annalise Keating. She mentors her band of ambitious students in the intricate art of “getting away with murder”. It is part of ABC’s Shondaland triad on Thursdays with Greys Anatomy at 8p and Scandal at 9p EST. In my opinion Viola Davis is so beautiful when she wears her hair natural. When she wears those helmet hair wigs, it’s like when Halle Berry wears long hair. It just doesn’t look right.

Black-Ish– ABC Wednesdays 9:30p/8:30c

Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross star as an upper middle class couple raising their four children in a predominately white environment. What a weak premise . How about parents just trying to raise four kids? That is enough material for a comedy and a drama, and no grown-ass kids PLEASE. Can they also use their creative resources and give it a better name? It also stars and is produced by Larry Fishburne as the grumpy grandpa. It its filmed in a single camera format a la Modern Family. It has a lot of potential and I am elated to just to see a nuclear black family. If this show is even close to the genius of The Bernie Mac Show it will be successful.

5.CeeLo Green’s The Good Life – TBN Mondays 10:30p/9:30c

CeeLo has a reality show and he brought along his boys The Goodie Mob . I am not a fan of reality shows but I do admire CeeLo and the Goodie Mob as artists. The previews seem a bit scripted but the guys seem fun and it would be nice to come along for the party. CeeLo Green’s The Good Life premieres June 23 at 10:30/9:30c on TBN.

To the 5 BEST BLACK TV MOMS 2014 I want to wish them all a Happy Mother’s Day. I want to give them love, hugs and five dozen roses each as they struggle to survive on the treacherous streets of network television. As with all Black Woman in America ,Black TV Moms be doing the most with the least. The exceptions are Jasmine Trussell (Joy Bryant) on NBC’s Parenthood and Mama Pope (Khandi Alexander) on ABC’s Scandal who are characters that are ornamental outliers to the main storyline.

Sadly, Black mommies are MIA on American network television. Every Mother’s Day we reminisce about sitcom moms of yesteryear Claire Huxtable, Florida Evans, Louise Jefferson, and Rochelle .We almost forgot about Peggy Fair the widowed secretary on Mannix, (remember her and her little boy named Cory) and Raj’s Mom Mabel on What’s Happening.

Of the five black mothers that are on a serial television today , four of them are on two shows. All five of them are on two networks which are Oprah’s OWN The Haves and the Have Nots and BET’s Being Mary Jane and The Game .

As much as Tyler Perry is maligned and dissed I love me some him. I just want to thank him for bringing some semblance of the African-American experience to the entertainment starved black masses.Yes,the writing on TP’s shows at times less than stellar but at least we see a scripted series where black people are major character and the Sistas be gettin’ it in. A special mention goes to Mara Brock Akil & Salim Akil at BET. I want to hug them for the absolutely beautiful writing and direction on Being Mary Jane and The Game.

And NOW the 5 Best Black TV Moms on Television Today ARE!!!!….DrumRoll Please

1.Veronica Harrington (Angela Robinson) OWN The Haves and the Have Nots

Brilliantly portrayed by Angela Robinson,this chick be “getting it” and reminds me of one of my friends. She dresses beautifully, her house is immaculate, she works hard and controls everyone and everything in her household . She does not bite her tongue , will “whip ass” and has your back from the window to the wall. She is NEVER politically correct .The one thing i do notice about these women is they always “GOT A MAN” and just like Veronica she controls him. Her motto? “When Momma Aint Happy Aint Nobody Happy”. This character she is as amazing as she is ruthless, especially when she is super mean to her son Jeffrey.

2.Hanna Young (Crystal Fox) OWN The Haves and the Have Nots

I was watching Crystal Fox as Hanna and I kept trying to place her. I saw a rerun of In The Heat of the Night and there she was! Her and Bubba had some swirly hot chemistry. She was a short little firecracker and he was a muscular Adonis. They were hotter than that Mississippi sun……OH YEAH! Hanna is saintly,long-suffering and prayerful. She is always there to help and forgive except when it comes to her own drop dead gorgeous daughter(Tika BlackBarbieDoll Sumpter). I salute Tyler Perry for making faith and prayer an important character in The Haves and the Have Nots.

3. Helen Patterson (Margaret Avery) BET Being Mary Jane

How delicious is this show? They have Margaret Avery (Shug in The Color Purple) as the Momma and Being Mary Jane is just the perfect vehicle for Gabrielle Union. BMJ serves up absolute deliciousness. It stars great black actors as Richard Roundtree(SHAFT). His still a hottie. I will never forget “dem bowlegs” his leather jacket and Shaft’s perfect “fro.”Richard Brooks (Patrick) is a BMW Black Man Working it OUT) . You know Black Don’t Crack is the truth when “old school mofos” are acting their asses off courtesy of the great writing by Mara Brock Akil. What a gift! Excuse me just a moment while i get my Holy-Ghost-dance around-the-church praise on for the awesome writing and these incredible actors.

Well ENTYWAY Mrs Helen Patterson is a super “bougie ” upper class matriarch who like Veronica rules her house and her man( Richard Roundtree) She be worrisome as hell to Mary Jane. She may be the Oprah of the ATL but her “Mumma” be calling down on her job bitching about family business like she aint gotta work. My mother does that too, calls me everyday about just random family bullshit However, I always pick up that dam phone or call her back because there may be a time she won’t be there to answer.

The way Miss Helen removed her son’s white girlfrend out her house was diabolical. She was on her sickbed but she wasn’t so down that she didn’t recognize when her so-called girlfriend Catherine Stafford (Shiela Frazier(SuperFly) was after her man she nipped that shit straight in the bud. It was so hilarious when it looked like there was going to be a granny and granddaddy sex scene with the elder Pattersons. The “youngins “exploded twitter. They couldn’t handle that Kool-Aid HAHAHA. Miss Helen makes no apologies for being a proud black woman. Don’t mess with her kids,dont mess with her man and don’t mess with her money. Dont mess with her mari… oh oh went old school there LMAO.

4. Niecy Patterson (Raven Goodwin) BET Being Mary Jane

Niecy is a teenage mother with 2 baby daddies. She live in her grandparents’ mansion with her extended family. She is pregnant and waits for her baby daddy just to show up and be there for her and their child. Her vision of life shows wisdom and naivete at the same time. Her words are like taking a dagger to the MF’ing heart.

She is the third generation of an upper class ,wealthy, educated African-American family. But for all the struggles and achievements of her grandparents and parents she has embraced a ghetto mentality. Niecy’s scenes with Mary Jane are wrenching but they also give a lesson. In one heart searing scene Niecy tells Mary Jane that she is known as the big thick girl who knows how to put it down.She believes daughter that she is carrying will not have such a hard life because she will be half Filipino with light skin and good hair.She accurately points out that Mary Jane did it the right way . Although she has an education, great career , money yet she is still alone with no kids.

Niecy is a real black girl . Her mindset reveals a compelling twisted story of a black woman’s pain and empowerment in modern America. It is a result of hundreds of years of self-hatred and brainwashing that two or three generations of success cannot destroy.

5. Tasha Mack (Wendy Raquel Robinson) BET The Game

Miss Tasha is sassy with a smart mouth and daddy issues. She always gives unsolicited advice for her married friends but as Jason and Chardonnay say . “She can’t keep a man if her life depended on it. ” She speaks for segment of sisters who are doing it all and are successful in their careers and raising kids. But because of our history they are unwilling to step aside and allow a man to be a man.

Tasha discovers that all manipulation and “getting over ” will bring is an unhappy ending. She played her childhood sweetheart Pookie( Rockmond Dunbar) to be with Rick(Fox) playing himself. (His acting is 100% better than when he was in Meet The Browns the movie but i guess it’s not acting when you’re playing yourself .) Tasha then dogs Rick too and she ends up alone and pregnant at 40, just like when she was as a teenager. The men in her life did not abandon her she pushed them away..

All Photos of The Haves and The Have Nots Courtesy OWN NetworkAll Photos of Being Mary Jane and BET The Game Courtesy of BET Network

Scandal ABC’s episode “Vermont is for Lovers Too”was the top TV moment in 2013 for black women. It was the first time in the history of television that an episode was produced by a black woman Shonda Rhimes, starred a black woman, Kerry Washington and was directed by a black woman Ava DuVernay (Middle of Nowhere). All three of these sisters deserve the highest accolades because they work hard at their craft and provide quality entertainment. This dynamic trio gifted Gladiators with one of their favorite episodes.

2.OWN Network Tyler Perry’s The Have and Have Nots

The tragically sad yet insightful scene depicted Veronica Harrington’s (Angela Robinson) bitterly cold and brutal response when her son Jeffrey (Gavin Houston) finally admits to his parents that he is gay. The scene gave a rare and poignant glimpse into the lives of African American families who as a whole are conservative about social issues such as homosexuality, abortion and liberal on issues regarding civil rights.

Nicole Beharie as Abbie Mills on Fox’s Sleepy Hollow

Nichole Beharie co-starring in Fox’s supernatural thriller Sleepy Hollow. She portrays Lt. Grace Abigail “Abbie’” Mills who along with Ichobod Crane (Thomas Mison) work together to destroy the Headless Horsemen and demons of the Apocolypse. Beharie’s best buds chemistry with Thomas Mison is adorable. Two hundred and fifty year old Icabod goes dashing through the 21st century with gusto with aristocratic English rogueness. Abbie being the real sistagirl that she is keeps him right in check. Awesome to see favorite “Girlfriends” actress Jill Marie Jones as the wife of Captain Frank Irving (Orlando Jones)

4. BET The Game “The Busted Episode” Season 6, Epi 11

BET “The Game” season 6 is officially a grown an sexy party. Tasha Mack (Wendy Raquel Robinson) gets caught creeping with Rick Fox (as himself) by her fiancee Pookie (Rockmond Dunbar ). It shows that age and gender does not always equal wisdom. There is plenty of rachtetness to go around.

5. BET’s Being Mary Jane Gabrielle Union

Being Mary Jane starring Gabrielle Union hits a black girl in America nerve viewing life through the eyes of Mary Jane Paul . She is a beautiful,talented and successful woman but has the same problems like everyone else. Mary Jane wrangles her life trying to find true love and deal with family drama